ArmInfo.The Ohanyan-Raffi-Oskanian (ORO) bloc reports that it has received alarms from the citizens, who say that along with large-scale electoral bribery, the ballot-riggers from the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) are distributing identification signs among the venal voters - numbered papers, color threads, transparent stickers, and demand leaving them in the envelopes.
In addition, the ORO campaign headquarters has received reports that at some medical institutions - particularly at Grigor Lusavorich hospital in Nor Nork district of Yerevan and at the hospital in Malatia district - citizens have not been officially discharged so that they can take part in open voting by means mobile ballot boxes. The ORO bloc demands that the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) should immediately inspect the specified medial institutions. The ORO sources also report that at many polling stations the devices have been deliberately made out of service. The ORO bloc demands that the authorities should immediately stop the illegal actions against the voting rights of the Armenian citizens and that the law-enforcers should detect and punish the law-breakers. The same sources say that on Sunday morning special RPA ballots with black marks were distributed. After the ORO bloc told the CEC about it, the ballots were replaced. The CEC explained this with the low quality of printing, but the low quality of ballots was strangely reflected on the RPA ballots only. In addition, cases of electoral bribery by the RPA were reported, particularly, in Arabkir and Center communities of Yerevan, as well as in Aragatsotn province of Armenia.
To note, parliamentary elections in Armenia started on April 2, at 8 am. These are the first elections after the constitutional reforms implying transition from the semi-presidential to the parliamentary form of government. According to the Central Electoral Commission of Armenia, as many as 2009 polling stations opened throughout the republic at 8 am. The total number of voters is 2 mln 564 thsd 795. 9 political forces run in the elections: 4 blocs (Yelq, Tsarukyan, Ohanyan-Raffi- Oskanian and Congress-PPA), and 5 parties (Republican Party of Armenia, Communist Party, Free Democrats, ARF Dashnaktsutyun, Armenian Renaissance).